Emma Randall: Differences Between Coaching Boys and Girls in Wrestling
It is a common misnomer that we need to treat athletes different based on their gender. Emma Randall, the first female in the U.S. to earn her gold-level coaching certification through USA Wrestling, has some insight and advice for those new to coaching females. Randall has her M.S. in Sports Psychology, and is able to give additional perspective on a mindset that has been all too common in the wrestling and female sport world.
How are male and female athletes different?
"If we place our athletes into a one size fits all coaching model, we do them a disservice."
Coaching is coaching. Instead of coaching the gender, coach the person in front of you in your sport. Each individual is different in their level of talent, skills, effort, and resiliency. They are all motivated by different things, prefer different styles of communication, and learn through different processes. If we place our athletes into a one size fits all coaching model, we do them a disservice. You will always have complete outliers and even subtle differences regardless of age, gender, experience, sport, and so forth.
Why do coaches feel like they need to coach girls and women differently?
Anything outside of our daily routine feels uncomfortable. When we feel discomfort, we naturally pull back and think twice. “Is this right? Why does this feel unnatural?” When you talk to coaches after their first couple seasons coaching women, they don’t mention it being unnatural anymore. It’s the same as teaching a new move to any other athlete. Can you work with them to get through the awkward transition of first learning a new technique, to smoothly executing in a match? Even with repetition, there will be days where it feels unnatural again or doesn’t flow well. That is how we learn and how we grow. Are we creating a more difficult situation when we believe coaching women is hard by trying to assign meaning to our growing pains? If coaching women is such a specialty, why are over 50% of women’s NCAA teams coached by men?
Advice for coaches new to coaching girls
I can’t say this enough: focus on the person in front of you. Take time getting to know the athlete and the human being.
Coaching girls may seem like learning a new set of rules. Instead, learn your athlete by learning their motivations. Why is this athlete excited to participate in sport? Is it for fun, to meet friends, or because of their drive to be the best? Is it a combination of these? What do they expect from you as their coach? What are their goals? The more you learn their motivations, the easier it becomes to understand how you can support your athletes achieve their goals. Coaching is so much more than explaining a single leg. It’s about giving a person tools to be successful. As a coach, losing your ego and being selfless is the way to uncover how you can best serve your athletes. Maybe you discover the way you typically teach isn’t effective for this group of female athletes. Male or female, as a coach it's your duty to learn how to be flexible and try a different tactic. It is certainly not the athletes fault, nor is gender the issue for not understanding an athlete's motives for competing in sport. Look for moments where you have to flex and think outside of your normal coaching toolbox. Those are valuable lessons that only strengthen your skills and abilities. Be excited for those tough or frustrating moments! Those are the moments you grow!
